Movie Review: All you need is glove

The feature animated film, “Yellow Submarine,” was produced to fulfill a three feature movie contract for The Beatles, the 1960s rock band that enraptured the world.

Fifty years after its release in 1968, with a restored print and soundtrack, the re-release shows that “Yellow Submarine” has traveled well. The film has even grown in stature for its inventive animation, dialogue of mordant wit and, of course, its soundtrack of Beatles’ songs, including the title song that inspired it.

While the Beatles (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr) apparently were not directly involved in the making of “Yellow Submarine” (They were said to be relieved to not have to do another “A Hard Day’s Night,” 1964, or “Help!,” 1965, feature film). The Fab Four approved the release of “Yellow Submarine,” even though, at the time, they disliked the ABC-TV Saturday morning cartoon series, “The Beatles” (1965-69).

Director George Dunning, a producer of “The Beatles” cartoon series, supervised 200 artists in the 11 months it took to complete “Yellow Submarine.”

Dunning, whose other credits included directing several animation short films, was a specialist in using painted glass in animation, a technique seen in the “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” scene in “Yellow Submarine.” Rotoscoping, where live-action sequences are traced onto animation cells, is also seen in “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” with dance scenes from “Dancing Lady” (1933), starring Fred Astaire and Joan Crawford.

“Yellow Submarine” has many other animation techniques that seem quaint by 2018 feature animated film CGI and 3D standards. Even so, many scenes are vivid, with colors vibrating in an alternating palette. Most of the film is in the style of limited animation, where the characters are moved across a backdrop in the style of cutouts.

In “Yellow Submarine,” there are influences of art nouveau, Andy Warhol silk-screen prints, pop-art, op-art, day-glow, and the Fluxus movement. Think “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” (1969-74) to get an idea of the type of surrealism, sight gags and punchlines in “Yellow Submarine.”

The 2018 “Yellow Submarine” re-release is restored in 4K digital resolution by Paul Rutan Jr. and experts at Triage Motion Picture Services and Eque Inc. The restoration was done by hand to preserve the original hand-drawn animation.

What is most entertaining about “Yellow Submarine” is how funny the dialogue is, much of it playing off the Beatles’ legendary Liverpudlian wit.

There are many in-joke references to Beatles’ song lyrics that will tickle Beatles’ fans, and many references to “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (1967), the landmark Beatles’ album. Not all of the corny puns (is that redundant?) require a Beatles song concordance.

For example, when there’s a remark about a sphere of blue glass, the response is, “Must be from Kentucky,” which references the state’s bluegrass music tradition and the grass that grows there.

Or this: “Look, it’s a school of whales.” “They look a little bit old for school.” “University then.” “University of Wales.”

In “Yellow Submarine,” the four Lads from Liverpool, led by Captain Fred in his Yellow Submarine, travel to Pepperland, which The Blue Meanies have turned into a world of gray characters frozen in place. The Yellow Submarine travels through the Sea of Time, Sea of Nothing, Sea of Holes, and the Sea of Green. In Pepperland, they dodge the Chief Blue Meanie, Apple-Bonkers, giant blue arrows fired at them, the four-headed Meanie dog, and the huge jet-powered Dreadful Flying Glove.

Along the way, The Beatles encounter Jeremy Hillary Boob, Ph.D. (voiced by Dick Emery), who, with Beatlemania a distant echo decades later, turns out to be the film’s most fascinating character. Jeremy spouts sparkling stream-of-consciousness wordplay (“Ad hoc, ad loc, and quid pro quo! So little time! So much to know!”) that references philosophical, historical and cultural figures and topics. Jeremy’s dialogue has influences of Lewis Carroll and Dr. Seuss.

While the plot may be thin, “Yellow Submarine” has an astonishing depth in concept, sequences and integration of Beatles’ songs.

The songs and score (by Beatles’ producer George Martin) for the rerelease were remixed at Abbey Road Studios by engineer Peter Cobbin. The re-release has “Hey Bulldog,” which wasn’t in the 1968 original film. Songs include “Only a Northern Song,” “It’s All Too Much,” “Eleanor Rigby,” “When I’m Sixty-Four,” and “All You Need Is Love.”

The Beatles appear in a cameo at the end of the film to lead the audience in singing “All Together Now.”

If you have the opportunity to see “Yellow Submarine,” a classic of animated films, especially in a movie theater on a big screen, don’t miss it.